Sun Ra

Live brilliance from the Sun Ra Arkestra – a set recorded in Tivoli in 1971, with a mix of modes that has the Arkestra swinging from spiritual passages to some very outside moments as well – sometimes with a sense of texture that's extremely powerful! The first half of the set features ... LP, Vinyl record album

Gilberto Gil

One of the funkiest albums you'll ever hear from Gilberto Gil – a really cool record that's done in the same sort of samba soul style that Jorge Ben was using in the 70s – with similarly wonderful results! The rhythms are great – a really compelling mix of rootsy elements and ... CD

Idrissa Soumaoro

A beautiful album from Idrissa Soumaoro and L'Eclipse – one recorded during a time of great political unrest in Mali, and a set that was never commercially issued – but just originally given away by the Malian Association for the Blind! The album's got all the power of earlier albums ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

Crucial sounds from King Jammy – prime material from that time when his production style was really helping to open up the sound of Kingston! The evolution of dub is definitely at play in the tracks here, but the music is also much more upfront, too – as the Jammy style is very ... LP, Vinyl record album

Fats Navarro

Tremendous work from a trumpeter who was taken from us all too soon – the legendary Fats Navarro, an important early voice in the sound of bop! The album's a short one, but every track is a gem – as Navarro blows beautifully in groups led by Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron, and Howard McGhee ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

Cumbia sounds get trippy – as a host of Latin American artists picked up the electric guitar in the 60s, and really helped transform the style with some psychedelic touches! Most of these tracks feature cumbia rhythms at the core, but take the music far from its Colombian roots – ... CD

Zapp

Zapp's 3rd album, and one that shows them still very much on top of their game! The mix of tight bass, keyboards, and occasional vocoder bits is firmly in place from their first two albums – a stunning legacy of ensemble funk that pushes the older P-Funk ethos into hip new territory for the ... CD

Andrew Hill

A classic "new thing" album recorded with the cream of Blue Note's avant 60s players – like Eric Dolphy, Joe Henderson, and Tony Williams – standing out with Hill as some of the most adventurous players for the label at the time! The album's awash with jagged piano likes from ... LP, Vinyl record album

Ashford & Simpson

Ashford & Simpson don't need to ask at this point – their in full 70s soul stride here, and it's not good, it's great! By this point in the late 70s, Nick and Valerie are firmly holding the foreground as artists in their own right after many years of acting as songwriters for other soul ... CD

Joyce

A tremendous little album from Joyce – a rare session originally only issued in Italy, recorded in a folksy style that's a bit different than her other work! Tracks are all pretty short – many under 2 minutes long – and feature spare guitar, percussion, and lovely vocals from ... CD

Isaiah Owens

Gospel, but with a very bluesy style – sung by Isaiah Owens, who accompanies himself throughout on electric guitar! The approach is one that's much more common of older blues musicians – and Owens certainly carries himself in that way – but the themes are definitely spiritual, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Procedures

Two massive grooves from this obscure Chicago group – both of them great! Ron Grace of The Procedures had spent previous years working at Curtom Records – and "Give Me One More Chance" feels a lot like some of the best early Leroy Hutson productions for the label – a ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Ennio Morricone

A pretty sexy soundtrack from the great Ennio Morricone – as if you couldn't tell from the image on the cover! The score is for a strange film about the daughter of an Italian industrialist who falls for a black revolutionary – and Morricone mixes in a few soul-styled moments with lots ... CD

Sly & The Family Stone

Stunning sounds from Sly & The Family Stone – a searing live performance from 1968, and one that appears here for the first time ever! The music is wonderful – harder, heavier, and even funkier than some of the group's famous records from the period – and that's saying a heck ... CD

Allen Toussaint

A trio of albums from this legendary New Orleans soul singer – all of them great! First up is Toussaint – a seminal album from Allen Toussaint – his first big move as a solo act, and the start of some great fame that would blossom even more strongly in the 70s! This indie effort ... CD

Various

Late R&B, early soul music, and plenty of other great surprises – all pulled together in this excellent collection that focuses on rare gems from the late 50s and early 60s! Despite the "milestones" in the title, the set's more like "underground nuggets" – as ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

A stunning selection of contemporary cuts from the global soul underground – tracks that definitely live up to the summer spinning promised in the title, but which we'll certainly be digging during all the other seasons of the year too! The groove here is positive and upbeat – not ... CD

Miles Davis

Not just Miles Davis live at Newport – but Miles at Newport over the course of 20 years, in the space of eight different live performances – almost all of which are previously unreleased! Apart from the 1958 and 1969 Newport material here, most of the 4CD set features all-new, all-great ... CD

Aaron Parnell Brown

Aaron Parnell Brown's no tin man here – as the record has a rock-solid sound from the very first note, and a fresh approach that really sets Brown apart from so many male soul singers in the contemporary underground! Aaron's got this laidback vibe in his music – a deeply soulful ... CD

Bunny Lee & Friends

A wealth of rare tracks from the archives of Jamaican producer Bunny "Striker" Lee – tracks pulled from one-off dubplates mixed direct from the studio, and other unreleased tracks pulled from never-heard master tapes too! The music here definitely lives up to Lee's production ... CD

Timo Lassy

One of the straightest jazz projects we've heard in years from Timo Lassy – a set that really gets back to the kind of soulful sounds we first loved in his music – served up here with a wicked 60s vibe, and plenty of organ in the mix! The group's a quintet, with added percussion ... CD

Herbie Mann

A lesser-known follow-up to Herbie Mann's first album of reggae-styled instrumental grooves – and one that's every bit as sweet as the first! Like that record, the approach here is one that has Mann working with Kingston-bred rhythms from a lineup that includes Winston Wright on organ, ... CD

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

A compelling mix of tracks from the legendary Sister Rosetta Tharpe – one that's definitely the concert album promised in the title, but one that seems to bring together performances from many different shows! The music here seems to span the space of a few decades, which is great – ... CD

Slave

A key early classic from Slave – as the set features the group's first work with drummer Steve Arrington, who not only opened up their rhythmic concept, but also gave them a great new sound on lead vocals! Arrington's approach here is very much in the spirit of Slave's first 2 records – ... CD

Various

Wonderful work from that special place where blues and gospel intersect – where the spirit comes to play with more secular expressions – and the result is something completely sublime! The work here spans the space of a few decades, but is unified by the strong presence of guitar on ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

Funk and soul meet Latin rhythms – and the result is a really special moment in the New York scene – a time when disco rhythms helped the underground scene burn brightly in the midtown clubs! Back in the 60s, nightspots in the city would routinely host Latin bands – but by the ... CD

Twennynine

One of the best ever records from Twennynine – produced and arranged by Lenny White & Larry Dunn – jazzy modern soul at it's dawn of the decade finest! Twennynine With Lenny White is way at the front of the pack of a lot of the 80s groove elements to follow in its wake – ... CD

Candeia

Sublime 70s samba from Candeia – a set that was recorded for the major label Atlantic, but which has a sound that's arguably even more rootsy than most indie samba sessions of the time! Most instrumentation is just guitar, cavaquinho, and percussion – used in this incredibly rhythmic ... CD

Various

Contemporary cuts mixed with rare soul nuggets – all in a blend that goes way beyond the usual soul compilation! The Real Side team have issued a number of underground tracks on their own during the past decade – but they've also got ears that are really tuned towards a unique slice of ... LP, Vinyl record album

Barrett Strong/Gino Parks

Rare work from these two overlooked figures in early soul – both artists who recorded for Motown during the first few years of the label – with a sound that's a lot more raw and hard-edged than their later hits! Barrett Strong was one of the first great voices on the label – a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Baby Brother

A great little album from Baby Brother – a group who share a name with a famous funky track by War, but who come on here with a completely different sound altogether! The group are a funk ensemble at the core, but they have this really special way of weaving their instruments together – ... CD

Persuasions

A beautiful group soul vocals effort from the Persuasions in the early 70s – working in a throwback acapella mode, but still with a fresh feel – thanks to a hip dawn of the 70s sound, and a stripped-down feel that you'd probably have never gotten back in the day! It's amazing how fresh ... CD

Omar Souleyman

One of the most compelling singers in the world today – an artist whose fame has spread so far, he's getting production help on this album from talents as big as Gilles Peterson, Four Tet, and Modeselektor! As you might imagine, the presence of these bigger names definitely adds something to ... CD

Bobby Scott

A really great later album from the wonderful Bobby Scott – and a set that follows all the best mix of jazz and soul styles we love from his earliest years, inflected with just the right dose of 70s energy too! Bobby's voice has a beautiful raspy charm – one that knows exactly what it ... CD

Joe Locke

A really beautiful record from vibist Joe Locke – and maybe his most dynamic album in years! The set's got Joe working in a particularly angular mode – carving out these wonderful lines of sound with core rhythms from the trio of Robert Rodriguez on piano, Terreon Gully on drums, and ... CD

Oscar Pettiford

Never-heard work from the legendary bassist Oscar Pettiford – recorded at a time when he was making some very big waves on the European scene! During the 50s, Pettiford not only helped revolutionize the role of the bass in jazz, but also helped bring that instrument to new possibilities in ... CD

Lee Dorsey

Massive work by Lee Dorsey – recorded years after his classics in the 60s, and even funkier overall! Lee's really cooking on all burners here – working with the production team of Allen Toussaint and Marshall Sehorn, and getting some incredible backing from The Meters – who are ... CD

Polyversal Souls

Expansively percussive, universally soulful sounds from the mind of composer/percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Max Weissenfeldt – aka Max Whitefield of underground funk heavies the Whitefield Brothers, Poets Of Rhythm. and working here with his Polyversal Souls! It's the most diverse record ... CD

Mason

An overlooked soul trio from the 80s scene – the brothers Tre, Gary, and Tony Mason – coming together here in a masterpiece of 80s groove! The record's got all the right bounce, boogie, and keyboard elements to feel like an indie set from the start of the decade – a quality that ... CD

Dead Moon

Dead Moon right in the middle of their great 90s run – making music that's so timelessly punk, it could be mid 70s New York, early 80s Los Angeles, or the ongoing underground in the best smaller scenes around the US! The trio have a tremendous sense of power, while doing just a little – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Ashford & Simpson

Great stuff! From Motown songwriters to world-class superstars, the trip was a well-deserved one for Valerie Simpson and Nick Ashford – and this album's perhaps their crowning achievement in sophisticated club soul! The record's got a great groove that offers a more soulful version of disco ... CD

Eddie Cochran

One of the weirdest moments we've ever heard from early rocker Eddie Cochran – but one of the coolest too! The record has less of the raw rock material that you might know from Eddie's greater fame – and it mixes his core rockabilly modes with some fuller pop backings from Johnny Mann, ... CD

Modernique

A group with a sound that's as modern as their name – a short-lived 80s soul combo with lots of electro funky touches! There's a snapping style to Modernique that makes them feel a bit like The Family, Madhouse, or other members of the Paisley Park universe – but their overall sound is ... CD

Aleem featuring Leroy Burgess

Solid 80s grooving from Leroy Burgess & Aleem – a bit more hit-oriented here than in earlier years, but still plenty darn great! Burgess has really grown strongly as a vocalist by this point – shaking off the rougher indie edges of his roots, and going for a tight, professional ... CD

Various

British folk music got really weird and wonderful at the end of the 60s – light years from the crew cut versions of The Kingston Trio, or the twangy modes of Bob Dylan wannabees – but also very different from the more rockish directions that American folk acts were taking at the time! ... CD

Karen Dalton

The 1969 debut studio album from Karen Dalton – one of the most unique voices of the 60s folk scene, and one of the most emotionally rich, blue & soulful – a heroine to many artists to come, and one of the (sadly) very few pieces of music she made in a professional studio she made ... CD

David Bowie

Two wonderful cuts from David Bowie's Philly soul period! "Fame" is his classic collaboration with John Lennon – a tune with very wry lyrics, and a wonderfully funky groove too – one you'll recognize right away! "Right" is one that we love even more – a ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Various

Not disco hits or the overplayed classics you may know from too many weddings – but a wonderfully deep selection of underground cuts that shows that there's still plenty of rare gems to discover from the 70s club scene! The set's put together by the man who wrote the book on rare disco mixes ... CD

Jerry Goldsmith

A pretty straight soundtrack – for a pretty weird little movie, one that was a late directorial effort by Ida Lupino, and which starred Hayley Mills as a bad girl in a nunnery, and Rosalind Russell as one of the nuns! Most of the tunes on the set are fairly orchestral, but the title track ... CD

Roger (Roger Troutman)

There's many facets of Roger – and they're all pretty darn funky! From this vantage point, all we can think of is that Roger Troutman must have had some sort of crystal ball to see into the hip hop sampling future – either that, or he was busy cooking up west coast gangster funk drones ... CD

Various

A wonderful overview of contemporary sounds from the Brazilian underground – artists all marked by the "10s" in the title, as they've just begun to blossom in the current decade! The set's one of the freshest we've heard in years – and really gives us a great opportunity to ... CD

Jean Marie Bolangassa

A sweet little record that definitely lives up to its title – as the whole thing offers up a blinding mix of live percussion over shifting rhythm patterns – with a sound that shows that the acoustic is still very much superior to the electric! "Disna Ngai" is a long ... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Bilal

Bilal gets some amazing help this time around from super-hip producer Adrian Younge – who really helps the singer reinvent his sound! The album's got a funky depth we've never heard from Bilal before – lots of those old school, 70s-styled soundtrack funk touches that Younge's so great ... CD

Various

Rare soul from the legendary King Records – hand-picked by Mr Fine Wine, with a special ear for sharp-edged R&B grooves! Most of the work here is from the same early soul stretch as James Brown's initial work for King – and recorded with an equally raw sound overall – heavy ... LP, Vinyl record album

Monophonics

Heavy funk, but with a definite psychedelic twist – as you might guess from the image on the cover! The Monophonics have strong qualities that tie them back to 60s soul – including the kind of tight rhythms, funky currents, and even soulful vocals you'd find on vintage singles – ... CD

Johnny Burnette

The second great side of the legendary Johnny Burnette – the singer's move to great pop material after starting his career as a raw rocker – a shift that then saw Johnny taken from us all too soon! Burnette's got a style that's surprisingly great in this mode – a voice that was ... CD

Choi Sun Bae Quartet

Trumpeter Choi Sun Bae really blows us away here – working in this very compressed approach to his instrument that makes for some really marvelous sounds – kind of that inside-out style of the trumpet that Don Cherry unveiled on some of his key 60s recordings as a leader – but ... CD

Forrest

A nice little early 80s effort from Forrest – a Texas-raised, LA-based singer with a great voice that's genuinely soulful, and charming enough to have been big crossover success – but he didn't get over in a big way in the US at the time! The songs are chart ready and he's got a very ... CD

Roger (Roger Troutman)

Crisply popping grooves from Roger – a great solo record from the voice of Zapp! The Saga Continues finds Roger still rocking his trademark effects laden vocals and vamping guitar work into the middle of the decade – with even tighter syncopated percussion, funky keys, and sharp synth ... CD

Johnnie Taylor

An obscure chapter in Johnnie Taylor's career – recorded between work at Stax and Columbia, with production and arrangements by Don Davis, who was a seminal force in guiding Johnnie's career. The album's a really strong one – with material that's a bit rootsier than the Columbia years, ... CD

Falcons

A treasure trove of work from one of the hippest, coolest vocal groups ever – a Detroit group whose members included later solo stars Wilson Pickett, Eddie Floyd, and Mack Rice – and whose work was a big part in the development of soul music in the 60s! The Falcons started out with ... CD

John Barry

A cool little score from John Barry – quite different from his usual soundtrack material, with a breezy sort of style that really fits the spirit of this sailing film! Instrumentation is often a light blend of strings and keyboards – a bit of electric harpsichord or melodica at points, ... CD

Francesco De Masi

One of the grooviest operations ever undertaken by the FBI – thanks to a fab 60s soundtrack from Franceso De Masi! De Masi uses plenty of jazz – some of the crime modes of the US scene of the late 50s, but also a good dose of the Italian styles of a few years later – as you'd ... CD

Eddie Cochran

About as classic as you can get for the great Eddie Cochran – no surprise, since the album was put together to mourn his untimely early passing, and is filled with some of the best tracks he ever cut for Liberty Records! The music here is Cochran at his prime – that post-country, pre-po ... CD

Steve Davis

A knockout from Steve Davis – one of the best trombone players in modern jazz – working here with an exceptionally impressive group of players! The legendary Harold Mabern is on piano, and Eddie Henderson plays trumpet – along with the always impressive Eric Alexander on tenor, ... CD

Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge

A superior sequel to Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge's Twelve Reasons To Die saga – cementing the mid teens Ghostface creative resurgence in a major way – with some of the finest production work by Younge to date! It's a stunning reminder of how sharp Ghostface can be this late in ... LP, Vinyl record album

Buddy Holly

The Crickets are chirping plenty here – backing up the young Buddy Holly in a smoking full length set that forever redefined the role of the album in rock and roll! The whole record's great – not just singles with filler, but the kind of tight, sharp, core group energy that made Holly ... CD

Various

A haunting collection of material from the early days of the 78rpm format – all recorded in the Ottoman region of The Levant – now known to the world as Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon! The sounds here are extremely unfamiliar – early iterations of musical modes that echo more ... LP, Vinyl record album

Twin Danger

A hell of a debut from Twin Danger – a duet that features Vanessa Bley on vocals (daughter of jazz pianist Paul Bley) and founding member of Sade Stuart Matthewman on saxophone! The pair come together wonderfully – and although Vanessa's vocals are in the lead, Stuart's instrument ... CD

Pino Donaggio

That's a sexy little image on the cover of this Italian soundtrack from the 80s – and the music of Pino Donaggio really lives up to the picture! Pino's at his erotic best here – working off the moody, mellow, slow-stepping modes you'd find in Italian sexy film scores of the 70s, but ... CD

Joel Press

Very soulful work from tenorist Joel Press – blowing here as a real old school swinger, with an especially strong emphasis on ballads! Most tunes are standards, and given this gentle groove that really fits Joel's rich sound – a style that's easygoing, and never forced – with ... CD

Alex Chilton

A killer snapshot of Alex Chilton fronting a tight band in a low key club gig at lower Manhattan NYC's Ocean Club in 1977 – sounding really great – covering a wealth of his classic Big Star and Box Tops tunes, along with newer originals and some cool, surprising covers tunes. It's ... LP, Vinyl record album

Horace Parlan

A killer set of tracks by one of the best piano players that Blue Note ever recorded – and a great trio outing that sparkles with soulful intensity! Even in this more traditional format, Horace Parlan's still one of the most inventive players of his generation – working with a sense of ... CD

Tracy Hamlin

From the sound of this set, Tracy Hamlin's a singer with no limits at all – both in the sound of her music, and the joyous energy she brings to this album! The set's not Tracy's first, but it's got this bold power that makes us feel like we're discovering the singer all over again – as ... CD

Guido & Maurizio DeAngelis

Lost 70s work from Guido and Maurizio DeAngelis – very much at their comedic best on this obscure Italian soundtrack! The main theme's got a funky vibe that rivals the cop/crime material from the pair – and the rest of the soundtrack opens up into a range of playful little tracks that ... CD

Sepi Kuu

A weird and wild little record – kind of an enigmatic project from a Sepi Kuu, done at level that's quite different than you might expect from its date at the start of the 80s! The feel is much more underground acid folk – this moody blend of acoustic guitar and fuzz, with vocals that ... CD

Various

The title's a reference to a Funkadelic song, but the set's a much deeper batch of grooves – really rare tracks from the funky 45 underground of the late 60s and early 70s – pulled together in one massively groovy piece of wax! There's a lot of hip twists and turns in the music – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Shai Maestro Trio

Shai Maestro definitely earns his last name here – working as the guiding force behind incredible sounds that seem to flow from his fingertips with effortless ease – this nonstop cascade of sounds, ideas, and colors that come across equally well on both the album's dynamic tracks and ... CD

Lesiman

Stunning work from Lesiman – easily one of the coolest, funkiest talents on the Italian sound library scene of the 70s! The groove here is electric, funky, and often slightly trippy – with perfect use of electric bass to get things going in so many different ways, depending on the mood ... CD

Tamba 4

An incredible album by the Tamba 4 – one of 2 albums the Brazilian bossa combo did in the US for A&M Records, during the brief time when they were expanded to a quartet from the original Tamba Trio lineup! The set is completely sublime – a wonderful mix of the group's trademark ... CD

Greetje Kauffeld

A range of wonderful work from this excellent European singer – mostly pulled from obscure archives belonging to jazz musicians and frequent musical partners in the 60s – brought together here to make a full length that's every bit as great as her other albums! Almost all the cuts have ... CD

Donald Rubenstein

Donald Rubenstein's great soundtrack to George A.Romero's underrated, original riff on vampirism – and the score is a distinctive work, too! Kind of like the film, Donald Rubenstein's score both recalls and subverts genre expectations, with stripped down and eerie piano and string pieces, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Big Mama Thornton

A great setting here for the legendary Big Mama Thornton – a record that has the famous blues singer working with help from a Chicago-based blues band – one led by Muddy Waters on guitar, who's billed on the back cover as "Clear Creek", because of his 60s contract with Chess! ... LP, Vinyl record album

Duke Ellington

Really unusual, obscure music from Duke Ellington – and pretty darn great as well! The set features never-heard tracks that Ellington recorded in Germany with producer Conny Plank – that studio genius whose work is best known from a landmark series of prog recordings in the 70s – ... CD

Various

Upbeat soul and plenty of grooves – all hand-picked tracks that bring the spirit of the legendary Soul Clap nights to the home listener! The series is done by Norton records in support of DJ Jonathan Toubin – who's created a unique groove on the New York scene by starting with Northern ... LP, Vinyl record album

Return To Forever

Mighty nice live work from Chick Corea's legendary Return To Forever combo – a special set recorded "live in studio" to promote the group's No Mystery album! The performance has the group as a quartet – Chick Corea on a range of keyboards, Al DiMeola on guitar, Stanley Clarke ... LP, Vinyl record album

Carlo Savina

Two sweet 70s Italian soundtracks – one sexy, one scary – both penned by maestro Carlo Savina, and offered up here on a single CD! L'Ingenua starts things off – with a vibe that's every bit as slinky as you might expect from the image on the cover – warm, erotic themes that ... CD

Philip Cohran & The Artistic Heritage Ensemble

Mindblowing – and a landmark recording that crosses all boundaries in the Chicago music scene of the late 60s! Philip Cohran was a visionary musician who'd played with Sun Ra during the 60s, but who left Ra to forge his own musical vision by the middle part of the decade. The Artistic ... LP, Vinyl record album

Elton Dean's Ninesense

Excellent work from Elton Dean's Ninesense group of the 70s – one of the few British ensembles to continue that careful balance between improvisation and group performance that was such an important part of the UK scene at the end of the 60s – but which had disappeared into more rock-lik ... CD

In Crowd

One of the lesser-known Jamaican acts to record for Island Records during their big reggae years of the 70s – but a great one too, and well worth discovering through this overlooked gem! The album's the group's second (of two) – and has this great laidback approach to roots – ... CD

Joe McPhee

Really wonderful work from the great Joe McPhee – sublime solo performances from around the same time that he was really setting the world on fire with his classic albums for the Hat Hut label! Joe had been blowing freely for over a decade by the time of these tracks – but moving into ... LP, Vinyl record album

Spike Orchestra

A beautiful album from this hip, young, UK jazz ensemble – a set inspired by the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, and delivered in this sublime range of sounds and styles! The lineup shifts a bit from track to track – from the duo of leaders Sam Eastmond on trumpet and Nikki Franklin on voice ... CD

Jason Roebke

Beautiful work from bassist Jason Roebke – a player we grow to respect more and more over the years, and one who continually surprises us with music like this! The set features three long tracks, played by a trio with Matthew Schneider on guitar and Marcus Evans on drums – but always ... CD

Armando Trovajoli

A pair of comedic soundtracks from the great Armando Trovajoli – back to back on a single CD! First up is Dottor Jekyll & Gentile Signora – which has lots of electric keyboards that slink and slide around – sometimes hitting a 70s Euro erotic mode, but often sliding into more ... CD

SK Kakraba

Beautiful balafon work from SK Kakraba – music with its roots in Ghana, but recorded in California – in an interesting criss-crossing of styles! The wooden xylophone seems to be the main instrument on most of these tracks – but often played in a variety of ways that show a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Sprawl (Brotzmann/Wertmuller)

The sound here is a powerful sprawl – one that draws plenty from the reed work of legendary Peter Brotzmann, and the heady electric fuzz of the rest of the group – all in a way that recalls the 80s Machine Gun group with Brotzmann and guitarist Sonny Sharrock! This time around Stephan ... LP, Vinyl record album

Mary Afi Usuah

Some of the coolest, grooviest work we've ever heard from the Nigerian scene of the 70s – recorded by an artist who was heading a children's program at the time! Make no mistake, though – this is no kiddie music, but instead a wonderfully rich, vibrant collection of material – as ... CD

Pauli Carman

An overlooked set from the 80s soul mainstream – the first solo album from the lead singer from Champaign! Pauli Carman's look on the cover definitely gives away the feel of the album – sweet 80s soul with a nice blend of beats and keyboards in the mix, all with the right sort of ... CD

Various

The twentieth volume in this wonderful series – one we've been trusting for years for the best in 80s groove! The music here is all from the post-disco years – awash in sweet keyboards and boogie basslines – all stepping along at a pace that's mostly midtempo, with a groove that's ... CD

Quartette Tres Bien

A stunning little set from the Quartette Tres Bien – a sweet 60s group who were every bit as groovy as the Ramsey Lewis Trio, but never fully got their due! This set is one of the group's best – filled with some killer original titles – all delivered with their unusual "piano ... CD

Ennio Morricone

Sweetness and darkness – perfectly blended together in this classic mid 70s soundtrack by Ennio Morricone! The main theme of the film – "Bambole" – is one of those Mondo Morricone type numbers that floats along on a gossamy sheen – vocals gliding softly over light ... LP, Vinyl record album

Big Maybelle

A well-titled album from the great Big Maybelle – as the set evolves her past the bluesy jazz currents of her earlier work on the Savoy label – and finds a wonderful new setting for her mighty voice in uptown soul! The backings are a mix of strings and tight New York charts – ... LP, Vinyl record album

Umas & Outras

A totally groovy Brazilian trio – three female singers, working together with some of the harmony modes of a group like Quarteto Em Cy – but also coming across with a range of playful and interesting styles as well! The set's got a heady sound that really lives up to the cover – ... CD

Spotnicks/Russ Garcia/Ron Goodwin

Space age pop galore – from a trio of very groovy sources! The Spotnicks start out the set with three cool guitar instrumentals – "Telstar", "Moonshot", and "Rocket Man" – done in their great blend of Ventures guitar modes and offbeat Joe Meek ... CD

Roy Ayers

A trio of Roy Ayers classics in one sweet set – along with some excellent bonus cuts too! First up is the album You Send Me – a set with a sound like no other – with a slow mellow jazzy style that shows Roy working at the height of his powers! There's some wonderful spacey ... CD

Various

Blue-eyed soul, yacht rock, and sweet AOR grooves – all coming together in a surprisingly soulful set! Most of the artists here were found in the rock racks, and not the soul shelves back in the day – but they all drew plenty from the best advances in 70s grooves – particularly ... LP, Vinyl record album

Karin Krog

Wonderful work from one of our favorite singers of all time – an artist with roots in jazz, but one who quickly stepped out into something else entirely – as you'll hear on this beautiful selection of tunes! Karin Krog's been a key figure in the Norwegian jazz scene since the start of ... CD

Peter Brotzmann/Fred Van Hove/Han Bennink

Very rare, very obscure material from this important free jazz trio of the German scene in the 70s – a set that features one long performance originally issued on the JG label, despite the FMP-like image on the cover – plus two more tracks from the same year that appear here for the ... CD

Darondo

The great lost Darondo album – amazing Bay Area funky soul from a singular talent – and material that we did not even know existed! It was cut for Ray Dobard's Music City label – purportedly in just a couple of marathon sessions – most of which we've never heard before now, ... LP, Vinyl record album

Memphis Slim & Willie Dixon

Rootsy blues from the team of Memphis Slim and Willie Dixon – recorded in Paris in the early 60s at the Trois Mailletz nightclub! The style here is much earthier than you'd guess from the date – the return to tradition mode that some players often experienced while working in the ... LP, Vinyl record album

Junior Parker

Killer work from Junior Parker – an artist who was already great in his early Duke Records years – but one who really seemed to take off even more as the 60s moved on! On records like this, Parker picks up a strong undercurrent of funky soul – a groove that's a perfect fit for ... LP, Vinyl record album

Piero Umiliani

Very cool, very groovy soundtrack from this Italian film about satanic ritual and demonic possession! The great Piero Umiliani serves up a wide-ranging batch of tracks, from breezy vocal pop numbers (with vocals by Shirley Hammer), to spooky funk instrumentals with a sort of "haunted ... CD

Han Bennink & Sabu Toyozumi

A pair of percussionists, working here together wonderfully – in a set that has both musicians using the drum kit and other percussion – and Han Bennink picking up a bit of piano as well! We've always loved Bennink's highly melodic approach – a style that seems to get notes out ... LP, Vinyl record album

Piero Umiliani

Jazzy goodness from the wonderful Piero Umiliani – a set that's got some sweet instrumental touches from Chet Baker on trumpet, plus piano from Umiliani himself! The overall feel is very much in an early 60s crime jazz style – that best Italian groove before more mod and bossa-styled ... LP, Vinyl record album

Electric Flag/Paul Beaver

One of the trippiest soundtracks of the 60s – a wonderful blend of psych tracks from The Electric Flag, and moogier electronic moments from the great Paul Beaver! The Flag are at their best here – playing tunes that move from short bursts of fuzz to longer jams – laid out with ... LP, Vinyl record album

Internet

Pure wonderfulness from Internet – a group who seem to bound forward strongly with each new release! These guys are easily one of the most compelling mainstream soul acts we can think of – still very lean, and working with an indie-level vibe – but also able to focus in on hooks ... CD

Cocteau Twins

A wonderful pairing of two of our favorite records ever by this sublime British group – both records that were issued separately as 12" EP releases, but make a perfect pairing as a full length record like this! There's a clarity and focus to the music here that's often missing on other ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

A legendary moment in European free jazz – performances all recorded on a single Sunday in 1969 – but which stand as some of the most powerful music of the time! The vibe here is often in the best spirit of early FMP, or maybe the most outside work of MPS – and the recording ... LP, Vinyl record album

Oscar Rocchi E Il Suo Modern Sound

Oscar Rocchi's a jazz musician at heart, but he really shines here in a very cool, very rare Italian sound library session from the 70s – one that's got a funkier feel at times than we're used to with Oscar, and all of the maestro's great love of color and tone! Most of the instrumentation ... LP, Vinyl record album

Various

Great underground work from the LA scene of the 60s – material that was really cut in the shadows of bigger acts like the Beach Boys or Byrds – but still handled by top-shelf superproducer Gary S Paxton! The work here is a great discovery – lots of material that's never seen the ... CD

Impacts

One of the coolest groups of the Cali instrumental scene of the early 60s – a legendary combo that features later psych giant Merrel Fankhauser on guitar! There's a sense of darkness here that comes through right away – a more brooding quality than you'd find on other, brighter surf ... CD

Sure Fire Soul Ensemble

A mighty full length debut from the Sure Fire Soul Ensemble – a group we've really been digging on funky 45s, and who seem to serve up even more great work in the space of an album! The sound here is deeper than the usual funky combo – with some of the more complicated lines and colors ... CD

Manhattan Jazz Quintet

The title gets it partly right, as the Manhattan Jazz Quintet have some added help on guitar from John Scofield on a few tracks – whose lines definitely underscore some of the more blues-based colors in the music! Scofield's an open, chromatic master on his instrument – and that ... CD

Various

An expanded collection that takes off from a run of very limited 12" singles issued under the same name – a series that was limited to 300 copies of each disc, and which featured special etchings on the other side of the vinyl! The etchings are gone here, but the music lives on in a ... CD

Cypress Hill

The stone(d) classic debut single that introduced the world to Cypress Hill, and one that still holds up after all these years – with 2 sides of Cypress at it's finest. "Phunky Feel One" is funky alright, with a thickly atmospheric sound that's a bit Bomb Squad reminiscent. "H ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Sentinals

Great instrumental work from The Sentinals – a group so confident in their sound, they let members of The Dimensions stand in for their image on the cover! Clearly, these guys don't need to worry about fame and fashion – and instead clearly spend plenty of time honing their groove ... CD

Various

A huge legacy of lost jazz from the British scene – underground work from small labels, local combos, and even a few school bands – all brought together here in a collection that has a very similar vibe to some of the Spiritual Jazz compilations on the Jazzman label! These aren't half-b ... CD

Jackie Shane

Rare, raw live soul from Jackie Shane – who has a pretty incredible backstory that we're late in becoming hip to – and a sound that's funky, boisterous, completely incredible vintage R&B! It was recorded during a residency at The Sapphire Club in Toronto in July of 1967, with some ... LP, Vinyl record album

TPS (The Preservation Society)

Great grooves here – deep funk versions of two sci-fi tracks penned by Brit maestro Barry Gray! "UFO" is a stunner – and gets this great Alan Hawkshaw-styled organ line right up front – which adds plenty of soul and plenty of class as the band vamps along! The title ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Various

Mighty sounds from a legendary Detroit soul producer – the great Dave Hamilton, a talent who issued a number of key singles back in the day, but who's left behind an even larger legacy of excellent unreleased work! This collection draws from both sides of that spectrum – and features ... LP, Vinyl record album

Dr John

Seminal work from Dr John – one of his key late 60s albums that set the world on fire at the time – and which still stand as some of the doctor's greatest achievements! The approach here is a fantastic abstraction of older New Orleans roots – not nearly as rigid as in some of ... CD

Various

The later years of the Sound Of Memphis studio – cuts from a time when the legendary deep soul powerhouse was trying on some of the newer modes from the end of the 70s! The work here is a real lost slice of Memphis soul – music from a time when the heyday of Stax and Hi Records had ... CD

Rolf & Joachim Kuhn

Tremendous work from the brothers Rolf and Joachim Kuhn – and exactly the kind of record that will have you completely rethinking your opinion about the clarinet in jazz! Rolf's a player with roots in more traditional modes, but by the time of this mid 60s session he was a very committed ... CD

Gilberto Gil

Some of the earliest work ever from Gilberto Gil – music that's got much more of a bossa nova feel than his better-known recordings at the end of the 60s – but at a level that's still head and shoulders above most of his contemporaries! Gil's in the lead on vocals and acoustic guitar, ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Various

Hard to believe it's been 20 years since the Far Out label first started making wonderful music – because their sounds are always so ahead of their time, it's as if they're still coming to us from the future! This wonderful 2CD set perfectly sums up all that's great about Far Out – ... CD

Bossa Tres

A holy grail of bossa nova! This album's one of the rare few ever cut by the fabulous Bossa 3 – the tight groovy combo led by genius pianist Luiz Carlos Vinhas – a record that's far too wonderful to turn up so rarely over the years! It's got a nice mix of straight jazz cuts with ... CD

Evan Parker & Yoshizawa Motoharu

Two chaps, both of them great – legendary British improviser Evan Parker on tenor and soprano saxophone, working nicely alongside Yoshizawa Motoharu on bass! Although Parker was a player who first made waves early on the British free jazz scene, his work during this 90s stretch may well be ... LP, Vinyl record album

Almeta Lattimore

A beautifully soulful track from Almeta Lattimore – an obscure Detroit singer, but a great one too! "These Memories" has a warmly mellow feel, but it still moves a bit too – with a full sense of sound and style that reminds us a lot of Gloria Scott at her best! The alternate ... 7-inch, Vinyl record

NDR Jazz Workshop

One of the most wide-ranging of the Jazz Workshop series in the early 60s – done with a lineup that includes American, English, Dutch, and German players – all coming together with the same fire and individual expression that you'd get in later years from the Clarke Boland Big Band! ... CD

Robert Glasper

Continuing genius from the great Robert Glasper – a set that has the keyboardist going back to basics, and working in just a trio mode – live in the studio, and with stunning sound! Robert plays acoustic piano, but as with his early years, he's got this fluidity that really makes it ... CD

Amara Toure

The near-complete recorded legacy of Amara Toure – a singer who made an incredible splash on the Cameroonian scene of the 70s, but who only managed to make a handful of singles and one full length LP! The material is all tremendous, though – as Toure sings with this rich, deep sound ... LP, Vinyl record album

Deuce Coupes

The Deuce Coupes may have a hot-rodder's name – but the sound here is surf instrumental all the way through – that hip, twang-heavy mode that put Del-Fi Records at the top of the heap back in the California scene of the early 60s! There's a nice current of fuzz on the guitar at times ... CD

Greg Foat Group

Masterful work from this ultra-hip group – a jazz combo at the core, but one who have a way of working in so many different flavors at once! Leader Greg Foat plays both a grand piano and church organ on the record – in a lineup that also includes tenor, trumpet, electric bass, and ... CD

Leon Bridges

An album with a very classic look on the cover – and an equally classic sound to match – one that takes us back to some of the hippest, coolest work by early 60s singers like Sam Cooke or Marvin Gaye! Both artists are a good comparison here, as Leon Bridges is unabashedly in the same ... CD

Various

Classic rocksteady from the Kingston scene of the 60s – music that was supposedly (according to the notes) brewed in a summer when the heat was too hot, and the locals had a need for music that was a bit more laidback than ska! To our ears, though, the sounds here are a return to some of the ... LP, Vinyl record album

Moggi (Piero Umiliani)

Spacey electronics from Italian composer Piero Umiliani, credited here as Moggi – one of his great, non-soundtrack experimental works, taking a break from film scores to follow his own adventurous impulses – this one a trippy synthesizers-steeped tribute to Albert Einstein! It's got a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Tom Prehn

One of the rarest free jazz albums of the European 60s scene – a set that was originally intended for release by Sonet Records, pressed up in test records for the musicians, then denied release because they felt that they'd already moved past the performance! Yet in the space of over 50 ... CD

Wilson Simonal

A great set of soulful Brazilian tunes from Wilson Simonal – one of his first records of the 70s, handled with a very groovy groove! The album takes off from the style of Simonal's classic Alegria Alegria sets for Odeon in the late 60s – pushing the groove a bit more with interesting ... CD

Warmth

Wonderful work from a very unique combo – one that features lots of vibes mixed with Fender Rhodes and piano – plus these great offbeat vocals that have a very personal feel! Both the lyrics and phrasing remind us a bit of the sorts of singing you'd find on some of Gary McFarland's ... CD

Marketts

The title track's a mighty big hit for The Marketts – and it's also a great way to describe the group's talent for pushing past their boundaries at the time! The sound is surf instrumental at the core – but really stretches out to space themes, soundtrack areas, and more – thanks ... CD

Royal Jesters

Really wonderful work from the Texas scene of the 60s – not the heady psych or garage usually associated with the state, nor the more Latin-inflected modes from the border – but instead a unique batch of music that feels more like work from either coast, and which comes across with a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Sonny Knight & The Lakers

Powerhouse live funky soul from the great Sonny Knight & The Lakers – tearing it up for their hometown of Minneapolis, MN! Do It Live was recorded at the fairly intimate Dakota Jazz Club, and the choice to capture their incendiary live act in a relatively small venue was a good one ... CD

Riz Ortolani

One of the lesser-known 60s soundtrack moments from Riz Ortolani – one of the first Italian film composers to break out on an international scale – and a great little set that really offers up some great aspects of his talents! The film's a dark horror movie from the mid 60s, scored by ... LP, Vinyl record album

Live Band

An excellent soulful disco album on the great TSOB label! Drummer, producer and band leader Norvell Holmes' name isn't likely to ring a bell for even hardcore 80s groove and disco fans, but this is an amazingly great album of modern soul with a polished feel to both the club cuts and mellower ... LP, Vinyl record album

Dusko Goykovich

The mighty Dusko Goykovich lives again – in a record that may well be one of the best we've heard in many years from the legendary trumpeter! Make no mistake, we love Dusko in all of his many settings – but there's a special sort of magic here that takes us back to the style and charm ... CD

Various

Tremendous tracks from this always-great series – one that's been going strong for almost a decade, and just keeps getting better and better with each new volume! DJ Rob Bailey started out as a London spinner with a great ear for classic mod – and over the years, he's developed an ... CD

Woodrow Adams

Incredibly earthy blues from Woodrow Adams – an artist who began his career with a single recorded at Sun, issued by Chess Records – then only ever cut a handful of other recordings over the years! This full length set brings together just about everything Adams ever did – the ... LP, Vinyl record album

Ennio Morricone

A great Morricone soundtrack for a Jean-Paul Belmondo thriller – a score that starts out spare and brooding, then builds nicely as things move on – with lots of cool bottom-end sounds that make the whole thing really move up from the depths! Some tunes echo the sweeter side of ... CD

Ned Doheny

A seminal set from Ned Doheny – a lasting bit of California cool from the 70s, and a record that's every bit as refreshing as its image on the cover! The sound is tight, but never too slick – well-crafted songwriting with equally well-crafted production and studio execution – but ... LP, Vinyl record album

Tommy Ridgley/Bobby Mitchell

Two great early New Orleans soul singers – presented here in one of the best collections of their music we've ever seen! The first large chunk of the package is dominated by the wonderful Tommy Ridgley – a singer who's never gotten the longer-term due of artists like Lee Dorsey or ... CD

Lucas Arruda

Stunning work from Lucas Arruda – a record we love even more than his first – and we totally loved that one to death! The sound here is prime Brazilian 70s at its best – that magical moment when jazz, fusion, and older bossa-schooled styles all came together in a really unique ... CD

Various

A single soundtrack – but one that features killer work from a host of the best Italian composers of the scene at the time – including Stelvio Cipriani, Carlo Rustichelli, and Daniele Patucchi – all of whom come up with some great electric funk for the set! The mix of composers ... LP, Vinyl record album

Som Tres

A mad mix of styles that perfectly sums up the sound of late 60s Brazil! Som Tres have their roots in the bossa generation, but they're stretching out here with a flurry of 60s styles – mod instrumental pop, groovy psyched-out production, and endless strands borrowed from European and ... CD

Various

Fab French grooves from the end of the 60s – funky, trippy, and a whole lot more – and a set that goes way beyond the sorts of familiar French tracks you'll know from your local coffee shop or bistro! Instead, these tunes really dig deep – very obscure work by artists who were ... LP, Vinyl record album

Joki Freund

Tremendous early work from German saxophonist Joki Freund – a player who would go onto much greater fame in the progressive years at the end of the 60s, but who already sounds plenty darn great on this early combo side from 1963! The style of the work is incredibly hip – with a ... CD

Manu Dibango

Sweet 70s Afro Funk from the great Manu Dibango – a record that adds in a bit more of a full production sound than on his earlier albums, but still sounds pretty darn wonderful overall! There's definitely more of an uptempo club groove going on – and the band has a lot more players ... CD

Gal Costa

One of the most mindblowing albums ever recorded – anywhere, anytime! This 1969 set stands as one of the greatest records ever cut by Gal Costa – done at the height of the Tropicalia movement, and featuring a sublime mix of styles that really gets the spirit of the movement right. ... LP, Vinyl record album

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